Arensky's First Piano Trio has been recorded quite frequently, and with good reason. The melodic and some of the harmonic manner may lie close to Tchaikovsky, but Arensky has his own highly engaging individuality within a similar Russian romantic idiom, and his ear for scoring is no less acute: indeed, he never allows himself the hefty piano textures that can make such a problem with Tchaikovsky's own Trio. The Second Piano Trio is less immediately appealing, though it, too, has its pleasures, and deserves a better hearing in the West. Among the couplings of the two works are those by the Borodin and Beaux Arts Trios.
The Borodin Trio's recording is not one of their most successful. Vigorous as they are, especially in the First Trio, they can sometimes overplay the intensity when a gentler lyricism might yield more. The Beaux Arts' performance is less strenuous, and in its warmth of feeling and its quick-wittedness with the fleet-footed Scherzos lies closer to the new Dussek version. The Dusseks are highly accomplished and sensitive players, responsive especially to the First Trio's Elegia and the Second Trio's Romanza: in these gentle slow movements Arensky's gift is at its most affecting. There is really little to choose between these two intelligent, sensitive performances of some very attractive music; if choice there has to be, it would go to the Beaux Arts and a performance of delightful individuality.'